New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman can go forward with a $410 million settlement with J. Ezra Merkin, using his law enforcement powers to compensate Merkin investors whose money was lost in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, a judge ruled. Madoff brokerage liquidator Irving Picard, who seeks to collect $500 million from Merkin for a different set of the con man’s investors, tried block the deal. He waited too long to do so, only threatening to seek a halt, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan ruled today. He dismissed what he called Picard’s entire effort to “derail” the accord. “The trustee, however, having for more than three years issued empty threats to seek a halt to the attorney general’s suit, has lost his right to complain,” Rakoff wrote. “Even on the merits, moreover, his bluster proves to be without substance.” More on Bloomberg here.
